We were aware of the importance of China as an emerging growth market for Edinburgh and there were signs that the city had already recognised the opportunity.

Marion McKean and Diane McCrae

Effective destination leadership and collaborative working

"We took a practical approach to our group project, given that we had a limited time frame to complete our research, deliver a final report and a presentation. It was really important for each of us in the group to have an individual focus, and from the start we all agreed that there would be no divas! We ensured that each group member took ownership of a specific area of study or research: it made sense to play to the strengths of team members."

This case study charts the progress of what began as a group leadership project assignment by four participants on the second Destination Leaders Programme: Marion McKean, formerly of Whitbread Premier Inn, Diane McRae of The Royal Yacht Britannia, Susan Russell of Festivals Edinburgh and Lyndsay Wilkie of Edinburgh First - and its transformation to the China Ready plan; an industry initiative for Edinburgh.

For their project, the group chose to ask the question, “Is Edinburgh ready to capitalise on the Chinese Market?” and used their research findings to identify practical industry recommendations on how the city could become China-ready.